Winter Warmer Piccies

Mike in bike Muff. In Five more minutes his eyes will be closing.....

A rear view:

And the whole thing open on the bike. Notice how the straps go through really easily and how it zips up at the front:

Winter warmers

I'd been wondering what to do about moving Mike around in the winter and I'd been reviewing his winter gear. I'm now fairly settled on what it is:

• His Benetton coat. Its like wearing a duvet! Thanks random Italian relative! He's worn it since he was born and now at nearly 2 yrs old he's going to need a new one. Time to start saving!
• A helmet chube from (£12 from muddypuddles), its a thick fleece neck muff, with a thin balaclava top. Designed for helmet use!
• A pushchair warmer/muff/sleeping bag/blanket thing (£19.99 from Tchibo)

The pushchair muff thing is genius! Its a small sleeping bag with slots in the rear to take straps that suit pushchairs. The same slots will work for a bike seat. I cut a slit thru the bottom half of the back of mine and blanket stitched the edges , so that it splits either side of the seat.

It fits directly onto the bike seat and has a front mounted zip\velcro. This means that i can put Mike on bike as normal, strap him in and then fold the 'pushchair muff thing' over him and zip and\or velcro it. Mike hates being constrained, but he can get his arms out so he's ok with it. Also it stops him kicking me in the back so bonus!

The nice thing about the muff vs a big winter warmer suit. Is that it can be left on the bike and theres no complex dressing\undressing when we stop.

My next plan is to make a rain\sun cover. I have one for my vaude backpack child carrier that i plan to re-use.

Thanks to longwalkonthegreen for the inspiration to customise the bike seat. Will some bike manufacturer please sack their design teams and just employ this guy?

Mike on a bike!

About 4th go out and he's cracked,  scooting, steering and braking! 

And thats on a steep hill!

Cool!

Santas Little Helper

Mike took a trip our on his new Puky to help me post the xmas cards to folks in our village. On a little downhill slope he started to move quicker and quicker until his little legs couldnt keep up, so ...... he lifted his legs!

He kept the bike straight all the way down until he rolled to a stop when he hit the grass at the end of the path!

What a magic xmas present! The boys a natural!

Mike on a Bike!

Mikes Nana has bought Mike his first bike! Its not quite a bike its the Puky Wutsch, horrible name for a great product!

When he got it he wasnt remotely interested. When we suggested going outside on his bike he ran to the door and sat on it with the bike pressed to the front door! In Mikes world bikes are for outside!

Its a smart product. Its sold as a "pre-bike" for 18months+ 80cm+ (~£50) Two key points:

• The seat is very low to the ground so great for shorties like my boy.


• It steers like a bike. ie it goes where you look. This really works because Mike was fine until he looked around and then he'd veer into whatever he was looking at.

Mike was dog tired when we went out (we went out to keep him awake), and he didnt smile at all. We knew he liked it because if we tried to take him off the bike he screamed blue murder! I'm waiting for my brother in law to send us the video!

Note the cunning use of my trouser belt to keep him from flying down the hill!

Best Family Cycling Website in the World

Here it is:

Totcycle

Keep an eye on this one family guys and gals!

Dumb Statistics!

I have to be very careful with this post. As i've usually only want to post positive stories about cycling (lets face it we hear enough negative ones!) but on a recent ecovelo post about cycling and health, someone posted a great rebuttal to the classic cycling is dangerous statistics.

All cycling is dangerous statistics compare accidents or deaths on a distance travelled basis eg per million or billion miles travelled.

Trains are safest, then cars and bikes are usually 10-20 times more dangerous than cars. Of course its nonsense for a variety of complex reasons. Which i have often explained at a dinner table till i've started to bore myself...
1) Individual routes make a huge difference eg Cars are safe on motorways but not A roads
2) Bike mileage is not comparable to car mileage, journey durations or trip nos would be more useful
3) Cyclists live longer than car drivers because they have protection against cardiovascular disease so its a truly dumb stat. Its dangerous not to cycle. If your family has a history of heart disease its suicidal not to cycle.

Back to that ecovelo response to the dumb stat....

"How any astronauts have died? But they travel a really long way, so that means space travel is statistically safer, right? Uh, no."

Genius!